"The pastoral challenges you have to face are really great and complex. Before a cultural environment trying to isolate God" from the lives of the people and from society, or "considering God an obstacle for reaching one’s happiness", "a remarkable missionary effort is urgent, placing Jesus Christ at the centre of the whole pastoral action", and letting everyone know "the beauty and truth of his life and his message of salvation". Benedict XVI spoke those words today, while he received the bishops of the Bishops’ Conference of Paraguay in ad limina visit. In addition, to encourage "personal meeting with the Lord", stated the Pope, "the presence of frank witnesses of real Christian life, together with the holiness of the pastors, is constantly necessary both within the Church and in the world". Hence the invitation to the bishops to be "models for your community" through "a holy life", and to offer priests "adequate and permanent training, helping them to revive their spiritual lives" in such a way that "they may work without getting tired". For the Pope, exactly "the cheerfulness, the conviction and the faithfulness through which priests live their vocations will let many young people feel like following Christ on the path of priesthood". (To be continued)
